Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Salad Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the yolks of 8 eggs until thick.
Make the dressing
Add 1 cup melted butter and 1 pint boiling vinegar.
Mix in ½ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and 1 teaspoon mustard.
Add 1 cup sweet cream.
Thicken
Place the mixture in a pan of hot water and stir until thick.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the dressing and help bind the fat and liquid into a smooth emulsion.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
- Boiling vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that cuts through the richness of the fat.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Sweet cream
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the overall texture.
The step that matters
Place the mixture in a pan of hot water and stir until thick. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat. If the water is too hot or the stirring too slow, the yolks can scramble or curdle, so keep the heat moderate and stir constantly.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, vinegar, sugar, pepper, cream):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, vinegar, sugar, pepper, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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